


Spidey-Sneezes

by AllThingsGeeky



Series: Spidey Sickfics [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bug boys got a bug, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Oneshot, Peter Parker is a Poorly Bean, Sick Character, Sickfic, Tony Stark acting as Peter Parker’s parental figure, Vomiting, emeto, irondad and spideyson, vomit warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22822531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThingsGeeky/pseuds/AllThingsGeeky
Summary: Peter gets sick and with May at work Tony's tasked with taking care of him; but Peter isn't making that so easy.((And ofc I didn't proofread- honestly no one expects me to by this point))
Series: Spidey Sickfics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908067
Comments: 38
Kudos: 120





	1. Guess I'll cancel that conference, then?

“Hello.”

“Hi Tony, it’s May.” 

‘Yes, sweetheart I know I have caller ID.’ Tony thought with a smile. It was definitely clear where Peter got his ditzy scatterbrained side from- he always felt the need to announce himself on the phone too, no matter how many times they had called one another. “Hey May, what can I do you for?”

“I was just calling to let you know Peter’s not going to be able to make it over tonight, he’s sick.”

“Oh yeah, what’s wrong with him?” Tony asked calmly, though internally he was very skeptical. The pair had been planning to attend this big work conference that weekend, and by  _ they  _ had been planning, he meant Tony. Peter had made it abundantly clear from the second Tony mentioned him tagging along that he didn’t want to go. 

_ “It’ll be boring Mr. Stark!”  _

The boy wasn’t wrong. It was nothing like the other events and seminars he’d had Peter attend. There would be no fun demonstrations, or conventions where he could meet other up and coming prevalent inventors; this was a  _ business  _ conference, like, business business. The kind where you had to wear a suit and a fake smile all day whilst you listened to other people talk about how much money they made. It was the epitome of everything Tony despised about owning a company and everything he had spent years perfecting. He could do the fake smiles and the small talk with his eyes closed and unfortunately it was a skill his young protege would have to learn. 

But said young protege was not happy about it. _ “That’s why I’m bringing you kid, I don’t wanna go by myself either.”  _

_ “But I won’t understand what anyone’s talking about! And I don’t wanna go just to be your personal form of entertainment.”  _ Peter had scowled at him. 

_ “That’s your job.”  _

They’d argued about it a lot until Peter eventually very reluctantly agreed. Tony had been expecting a call or a text from one of the Parkers detailing an excuse as to just why the teenager couldn’t come. Of course Peter would leave it until the very last minute to feign illness. 

“I’m not sure he just said he wasn’t feeling up to going to school today and he had a fever when I checked his temp.” May said absentmindedly. Tony could hear her moving around and gathering her things for work. 

‘Oh Wow Parker, really laying it on thick here aren’t ya? Using your heightened temperature to your advantage-  _ low blow. _ ’ Tony thought bitterly. If the kid who insisted on having perfect attendance was going to such lengthens as  _ missing school  _ just to avoid a boring weekend with the man, he must be serious about not going. 

Well..the kid had said he didn’t want to go a bunch of times and Tony had pressured him..Maybe the kid felt uncomfortable for another reason. They’d been on plenty of weekend trips away together before but that wasn’t any reason to assume the ball of anxiety that was Peter Parker wasn’t still nervous about something. He should’ve taken the time to talk to the kid instead of forcing him into something he didn’t want to do. Of course their job, both business-wise and Avengers-wise came with plenty of uncomfortable but necessary tasks, he ought to have eased the boy into it a little smoother. Now the boy was going to extreme lengths, pretending to be sick and  _ worrying his aunt _ \- something Peter wouldn’t never usually do under any circumstances, that was his number one worry about 90% of the time- just to get out of it. Just to get out of a weekend with  _ him.  _

So Tony felt both hurt and guilty. Great combination for a recovering alcoholic who suddenly found himself without his favourite distraction for an entire weekend. He didn’t want to spend two days alone with his thoughts, especially if it left him and Peter on bad terms. 

“Ahh well, tell him get well soon from me.” Tony said glumly, though he was already planning something. “You at work tonight?”

“Yeah, pulling a double shift.” May sighed and Tony could hear her shutting the door behind her. “I feel bad leaving him overnight if he’s not feeling good.”

“I can swing by and check on him.” Tony offered. 

“Really? I don’t want you going out of your way."

“Well I’m heading out of town tonight anyway. I can just drop by, make sure he’s fed and watered before I head off.”

“Oh Tony, if you could that would be great.” May said hopefully, the relief evident in her tone. “I’ll let him know-"

“No don’t.” Tony said, just a little too quickly. He didn’t want Peter to know he was coming so he had a chance to practise his act; he was content to catch the kid off guard. “I wanna surprise him.” 

“Okay, well whatever you say. Thank you Tony, I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.” 

Tony waited until around three in the afternoon before heading out. Previously he’d planned to head out on the road with the boy in tow at around six, so that gave him three hours to confront and eventually persuade the teen into coming with him; or at the very least get to the bottom of why he didn’t want to go in the first place. Maybe Tony would apologise, who knows, but all he did know was he was going to bring the kid some food. 

Peter was exorbitantly bad at self care, he’d sooner feed everyone around him before he ate both metaphorically and literally; and now that May wasn’t there to be semi-responsible for Peter feeding himself Tony knew the boy had likely gone all day without eating something. At least anything substantial and a growing boy with a metabolism like his needed- Christ when had he turned into Steve? He felt like a wittering mother in his own head, he didn’t wanna seem like such a nag; that would imply that he cared. Which he did but not- not like a parent. Just a concerned and slightly pissed off mentor. Right. Yeah, we’ll go with that.

So Tony picked up some food and headed over to May’s apartment; parking around back in hopes that Peter wouldn’t see his car and intercept his sneak attack. But as soon as Tony got upstairs to Peter’s floor something felt off..

He could hear the kid coughing from down the hallway and it didn’t sound fake. He was really coughing and they weren’t small dry coughs, they were wet and wracking and at first he thought Peter might be throwing up. 

Tony tried to hold on to the belief that the boy was faking it, that he had heard Tony coming up the stairs and had gone a little too far when fake coughing. But as soon as he knocked on the door he heard a small noise of surprise, followed by a thump which he assumed was Peter throwing himself onto the couch. The boy didn’t call out either so May must’ve kept her promise against telling Peter he was coming over. 

Tony knocked again but once he heard silence he assumed Peter was pretending not to be home. No matter, he had a key for emergencies. No sooner as he’d unlocked the door he elected to announce his presence; mostly because he didn’t want to be attacked by a scared spider kid who thought someone was breaking in. “Hey Kid, I brought dinner-"

And that was when Tony saw him. Peter balled up on the couch under a bunch of blankets, his eyes and nose were red but he was grey in the face. Literally grey- Tony had seen the kid pale, on a few occasions a nice shade of green and he had seen plenty of other people sick- but never in his life had he seen someone  _ grey.  _ It was disturbing and all hoped Tony had of the boy faking his illness flew out the window. 

Not only was the boy the wrong colour he also looked shocked. He had the blankets pulled up to his chin and he was wide eyed. “M-Mr. Stark?”

God the teens voice was terrible, all gravely and crackling. He sounded like he’d been smoking sixty a day and Tony would know. All his ideas of confronting the kid, or being deliberately aloof disappeared and were replaced with the innate desire to both scold and coddle him. “What the hell happened to you?”

Tony set the bag of take out down on the table and crossed the room, moving automatically to put his hand on the boy’s forehead. He didn’t even think about what he was doing, acting off of instinct and forgetting all about his ‘I don’t do physical contact’ persona. Peter looked mildly freaked out by the unexpected action too.

Christ the kid was burning up. Okay time to find out where May kept her thermometer.

Peter blinked up at Tony with a strange expression; as though he was trying to determine whether or not the man was really there or if he was having some kind of fever induced hallucination. “Uhh, Mr. Stark? What- what’re you doing here? I asked May to let you know I wasn’t coming-"

“She told me you were sick and I didn’t believe her. Figured I’d come and check for myself and clearly you’re not faking it.” Tony said flatly. 

“Why would I fake it?” Peter asked before he started coughing violently again, being forced to sit up as his body desperately tried to force whatever infection was taking hold of his lungs out of him. The forceful ejection of air was enough to make Tony rush forward to stop the boy from tumbling off of the couch. 

“Easy kid, Jesus Christ.” Tony muttered worriedly as he pushed the boy back onto the sofa. He didn’t answer the boy’s question, mostly because thinking about his own thoughts from that morning made him feel physically nauseous with guilt. How could he say that he thought the boy was lying when he was so ill now. He'd never seen Peter so ill and h had to admit it had thrown him. “I only saw you on Wednesday, what happened to you?”

“I d-didn’t feel great then either.” Peter mumbled, still getting his breath back.

“Care to elaborate?” Tony said sternly, forcing Peter to look him in the eyes which made the kid squirm. 

“My throat was itchy and I had a headache that’s all.” Peter sniffled. “But I went on patrol that night so I guess all the running made it worse or something.”

“Yeah, you think, genius?” Tony snapped. The boy was smarter than that, he knew better than to hide possible sickness from him. Due to the boys heightened metabolism he could go from kind of sick to practically dying in a matter of hours-  _ he knew better. _ “Why didn’t you call me? I could’ve gotten Bruce to make you something.”

“You just said you didn’t believe me.” Peter sniffled looking upset like he was gonna cry clearly emotionally fragile due to being so ill. 

“Well I believe you now.” Tony said quickly with a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he peered around the room; hoping to see some basic medical equipment but clearly Peter was inept at performing even basic first aid on himself. Christ as soon as he was better Tony was going to kill him.

Now being tasked with being the responsible adult taking care of a sick child for the first time in his life, Tony wracked his brain for what to do next. Logical step one: diagnostics. Let’s see how sick this puppy is. “Where does hotness keep the thermometer?” 

“Not telling.” The teenager huffed, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. He was not about to let his boss and mentor take care of him. He wasn’t a little kid and he was doing perfectly fine by himself. "I'm not a baby Mr. Stark it's just a cold, I don't need-"

“Okay I’ll rifle through the cupboards then, might look for some baby photos while I’m at it-"

“Second shelf in the bathroom cabinet.” Peter frowned before covering his face with a pillow and coughing into it. 

It didn’t take long for Tony to find said item and when he came back into the room Peter was laying down completely flat again. For a moment he thought the boy had either fallen asleep or passed out but it seemed he had just closed his eyes to avoid the harsh living room lighting from hurting them. In any case, Tony seized the opportunity and stuck the thermometer in the boys mouth before he had a chance to protest. But that didn’t mean he didn’t try. 

“Keep it in there.” Tony said seriously as Peter sat up and attempted to spit the offending stick out. When the man gave him a signature ‘I ain’t playin’ look, Peter slunk back down with a disgruntled look on his face. 

Whilst the pair waited for the result from the thermometer, Tony took the opportunity to ask Peter a few questions. “You drank anything today?”

“A little this morning.” Peter lisped around the stick, crossing his eyes to try and make sense of the reading. 

“How much is a little?” Tony asked accusingly, knowing full well how subject the boy was to dehydrating himself. So when Peter pointed to the half full water bottle on the table, he wasn’t surprised as much as he was pissed off. “That’s not enough, why haven’t you-"

“Don’t start on me. It takes a lot of energy to go to the bathroom, okay?” Peter grumbled though his cheeks darkened slightly at his own admission. 

“Yeah I imagine the coughing doesn’t make that fun either, huh?” Tony smirked slightly, knowing full well the kid had a weak bladder, i.e that time Thor made him laugh so hard he pissed himself. But Peter's face crumpled in embarrassment at the dig and the man felt yet another stab of guilt. He sat on the couch by the boys feet and put a hand in his calf. “Hey, I’m not making fun, I promise. But you’re not gonna get better if you’re dehydrated, I’ll help you get up when you need to.”

“No you won’t.” Peter stated firmly- or as firmly as his broken voice could muster; his eyes going impossibly wide as he imagined the sheer embarrassment that would come along with his boss helping him to the little boys room. “I’m serious, Mr. Stark that’s so embarrassing. You are not helping me to the bathroom.”

“I don’t care. You’re a kid and you’re sick I don’t give a fuck if you’re embarrassed, I’m not gonna hold anything against you.” Tony said sternly as he removed the thermometer from Peters mouth; shielding it from the boys view as he looked at the number, so that he couldn’t use the number against him later. 103- Yep. Definitely sick. 

Peter just rolled his eyes, though if his pinkening cheeks were anything to go by, Tony's heartfelt (if not slightly harsh) words clearly got under his skin. “Don’t you have to leave soon anyway? Can’t I just drink then?” 

“Oh I ain’t leaving.” Tony scoffed and added weight to his point by kicking his shoes off by the front door. 

“What?” Peter asked incredulously. 

“Hot Aunt is on the night shift. I’m not leaving you alone overnight like this. I called off the conference they’ll have to do it without me.” The man shrugged. It wasn’t a choice he’d even consciously made, it was the only choice in his opinion. No way was he leaving ~~his kid~~ \- ahem-  _ May’s  _ kid in this condition alone overnight. No way. The boy had accidentally admitted he could barely make it to the bathroom unaided, let alone take care of himself for a full day. 

Peter however did not agree with that sentiment and began shaking his head. “But Mr. Stark you can’t miss this weekend, it’s too important-“

“I can do whatever I want. And you’re way more important than some stupid conference.” Tony snapped. He was slightly insulted that Peter would think anything different but then again, up until that point he’d made a habit of remaining emotionally distant from the kid. Stating his feelings so bluntly was rather uncomfortable but it elicited the right reaction from the kid so he stuck with it; Peter backed down. “I should’ve realised that before I pushed you into going with me.”

Now it was Peter's turn to look guilty as he realised he’d made his mentor feel bad by rejecting the trip in the first place. 

“I usually wouldn’t have minded Sir, really, I don’t mind doing the boring stuff too I know it comes with the job. I just didn’t feel good a-and I didn’t wanna get sick while we were-“ Peter was cut off by another round of coughing. Really hard this time. Like, really hard, couldn’t draw a breath in hard and just as Tony was about to get up to rub his back or get him some water or something Peter’s eyes went wide. “Oh god- no-“

Suddenly, rather than covering his mouth to avoid spreading germs as he coughed, his hand clamped down hard over his mouth as he looked frantically from side to side. 

“You gonna hurl?” Tony asked calmly though internally he panicked slightly and he too started casually looking for an appropriate receptacle for the boy to vomit in. 

But Peter shook his head adamantly, biting back a gag and swallowing hard. He took a few deep breaths before he trusted himself to speak again. “No I’m good. Almost, though.”

“Okay, I’m grabbing you a bowl.” Tony stood and went to rifle around the kitchen for what seemed to be appropriate for an impromptu sick bucket. He hoped May wasn’t too fond of the Tupperware he picked out, but hey if she was he could always buy her a new one, it’d be cheaper than new carpets-

Tony’s search was interrupted by Peter crying out embarrassedly from the couch. In fact the boy had the  _ audacity  _ to try and stand up, still wrapped fully in a blanket like some kind of medieval cloak. “Mr. Stark please you don’t have to do this-“

“I know I don’t. I want to and you’re not gonna change my mind. So sit down, shut up and let me take care of you.” Tony said with far more authority than even he knew he could muster- and he’d reduced more than a few grown men to tears before with just one look. Peter immediately obliged, mouth clamping shut and his face flushed red at being reprimanded in such a- well caring way? 

The boy's shock was short lived however, as he was too busy trying to warm himself up. The fever was causing his skin and limbs to feel as though they were being dunked in ice and he’d already wrapped himself in three blankets; one of which had clearly been stolen off of his aunts bed if the pink floral design was anything to go off of. Or maybe Peter had a thing for daisies, who was Tony to judge?

When Tony got back from the kitchen and placed the bowl beside him, he was immediately concerned about all of the layers the child was cocooned in. His temperature was already scarily high and the sheets were no doubt worsening the issue. “Pete we gotta get one of these blankets off of you-“

“No.” Peter snapped, his eyes going wide once again though this time Tony had no idea why. The boy jerked away from him as soon as he moved to pull one of the blankets away. 

The man stood back a little, assuming his sudden closeness to the kid had freaked him out due to his vulnerable state; but the kid had never had qualms about personal space before. No, the way the kid was clutching the sheets white knuckled around himself made Tony rather suspicious. He moved again to remove one of the layers but was met with the same response. “You’re cooking yourself-“

“No, Tony.” Peter said firmly, trying to pull away from Tony even more. 

The kid used his first name. Okay, now he was seriously worried that something was up. Had the boy pissed himself when he coughed after all? Tony wouldn’t be surprised after how harsh it was; but the kid had stood up from the couch briefly since that last bad coughing fit and he hadn’t seen a wet spot. Still, Tony supposed an accident could’ve been absorbed by the many layers of fabric he’d accumulated. 

But no that still didn’t add up. Peter wasn’t  _ teary _ embarrassed he looked kinda  _ mad  _ embarrassed. Tony knew that didn’t make perfect sense but when dealing with a sensitive teenager it did, so the only other alternative for the boys odd behaviour he could think of was; “Are you naked?”

“I wish I was.” Peter groaned and covered his face. 

Now that he knew Peter was decent, Tony took advantage of the boy's hands having moved and pulled the blanket off. Peter let out a yelp and grabbed the sheets back quickly- but not quick enough to cover up what he was wearing before Tony could see them.

The man couldn’t help himself “Aww-“

“Shut up, Mr. Stark.” Peter spat angrily, his face turning redder than his fleecy Iron Man Pajamas before he realised what he’d said and just  _ who _ he’d said it to. “They’re comfy okay?”

“They look it.” Tony grinned. “I’ll get myself a pair of those.”

Peter simply whined in response, letting Tony know he really didn’t feel well. Any other time the teen would’ve tried to quip back but he clearly just did not have the energy. A few more weak coughs and the man’s resolve dissipated and he decided he’d save the mockery for when Peter was well enough to defend himself; or at least attempt to. 

“Okay okay, I'll stop teasing. Let’s get some food in you.” Tony said as he stood up, moving to reheat the now room temperature food he’d brought with him. Once he’d played up their meals he brought Peters over for him, along with a bottle of water. “Drink this too.” 

Peter followed the man’s instructions as best he could, though he barely made a dent in his meal when Tony realised he’d given up all together. “You had enough?”

“Uh huh. Sorry..” Peter mumbled feebly; looking guiltily at the measly attempt he’d made before pushing the plate away, looking slightly green. He felt bad about Tony having wasted his money buying him food, but he felt even worse for his taste buds; it tasted  _ so good _ but his stomach was protesting too aggressively for him to actually enjoy it. 

“Don’t say sorry, I’m happy you tried something at least.” Tony said kindly, clapping a hand on the boys shoulder before quickly whisking the plate away in case Peter tried to force himself to eat the rest out of sheer spite. “Just let me know if you start feeling sick alright? I wanna at least emotionally prepare for that.”

Tony had been half joking, but Peter took the notion that he had any control over any of what was occurring in his body was enough to make his eyes glossy again. “I can’t help it.” 

“I know.” Tony sighed as he sat back down, making a point of ruffling the boys hair gently; giving Peter an amused, but certainly not mean, look. “Man you’re even more sensitive when you’re sick huh?” 

“Don’t be mean.” Peter sniffled as he tucked his legs back under him, reading himself to lay down. “Can I have my blanket back?” 

“No.” Tony said lightly, though his lack of movement proved that he was serious. He even went so far as depositing the discarded blanket on his other side, furthest from Peter, where the boy would have to psychically walk over to retrieve it- and they both knew he wasn’t about to do that. 

“Why am I asking you anyway? This is my house. Give it.” Peter growled, resuming his indignant teenager after that certainly didn’t suit him. 

Tony simply raised his eyebrow amusedly; nonverbally questioning just who the hell the kid thought he was talking to. “Oh you wanna go there?”

“No not really.” Peter said quietly, instantly backing down and dropping into his usual self. “But I do want my binky back-“ 

“I’m sorry, your what?” Tony interrupted with a splutter. 

Once again Peter's eyes went wide and his face bright red when he realised his blunder. He was sick and tired and he hadnt meant for the childish phrase to slip out- it was just something he said around May okay?! It was a generic phrase he used for blankets since he was little and it- and it just stuck- oh hell no, Tony was  _ not  _ making fun of him right now. “Shut up.”

“What did you call it?” Tony asked again this time straight up laughing. 

“Tony,  _ shut up.”  _ Peter growled looking about ready to sock the man with a pillow but Tony only managed to quell his laughter long enough to deliver a warning. 

“That’s three times you’ve told me to shut up Parker, you’ve met your allowance.”

Peter squinted at the man scornfully before rephrasing. “Please stop talking Mr. Stark.” 

“That’s better.” Tony smirked. “And here’s your binky.”

Peter snatched the item of fabric back with a grumble and immediately burrowed into the couch, scowling at the floor next to him. 

“Want me to put a movie on?” Tony asked after a while, namely after he’d tidied the living room and washed their dishes; two activities that brought Peter great discomfort. Not only was it strange to see Tony do such mundane domestic things (even if admittedly he was slightly impressed Tony even knew  _ how to _ \- since he’d had servants all his life and now he had, well you know,  _ Steve-)  _ but Peter felt guilty that he couldn’t help. By this point he was barely able to lift his head. As soon as he’d finished attempting to eat a serious nausea had set in that was exacerbated by any small movement, including but not exclusive to his eyes darting around the room. If he so much as looked up from the floor he felt another wave wash over him, one that sent heat traveling all over his body and a rush of water into his mouth. He had to be careful when answering his mentor as both not to cause himself to vomit nor let on that he felt like he was about to. He did not want Tony witnessing that. 

“I don’t care.” Peter said quietly, immediately followed by a round of coughing which forced him to squeeze his eyes shut and just hope that it wouldn’t be followed by any vomit. 

The boys response only worried Tony more. The kid usually couldn’t handle silence in any form if he didn’t have something to occupy himself. Now there he was, content to stare at nothing. Maybe he was just tired and wanted to sleep, but no Tony knew better than that; even when falling asleep in hotels the boy always insisted on having some kind of background noise, whether that be the TV, music or a YouTube video. 

Tony ended up putting a movie on anyway just for background noise for his own peace of mind; and pretty soon he realised the boy was falling in and out of sleep. Breathing a small sigh of relief to himself he took the opportunity to work for a while, pulling his laptop out from his briefcase. Afterall he had several apologetic emails to write about his absence at the conference that weekend, though in reality he felt zero guilt for having done so at all. 

He also spent that time updating Bruce on the situation to gain some medical advice; and the doctor suggested should the boys condition not improve in the next few hours he was to bring him back to the tower where Bruce could administer some of his high strength drugs. 

Comforted by the knowledge that Bruce wasn’t majorly concerned Tony allowed himself to relax somewhat. He was glad the boy had fallen asleep as it helped his breathing to even out and he was finally about to escape the coughs that had been rattling his lungs all afternoon. 

After maybe an hour or so the boy suddenly sat up. Before Tony could ask if he was alright the boy was already standing and shuffling his way to the bathroom with a hand buried between his legs. Tony just smirked at the somewhat familiar sight, figuring that he’d forgotten the man was there in his feverish half asleep state. He wasn’t concerned, in fact seeing Peter move swiftly on his own made him hopeful that his condition was improving; that was until he heard a lack of movement from within the restroom. 

It only being fifteen feet away at most and the thin walls in the Parker’s apartment allowed Tony to hear the boy relieve himself and flush the toilet (yes it was slightly awkward, but whatever he’d been in a lot more awkward situations with the kid)- but then nothing. For a few minutes there was utter silence, no turning on of the faucet or even the shower and just as Tony was about to verbally question whether or not the boy was okay he heard something that he’d been dreading all afternoon. He heard retching, followed by a splattering on the floor. Oh dear. 

No sooner than the retching began Tony was out of his seat, down the hall and right outside the bathroom door attempting to open it; only for the lock to click shut just as he got there. “Kid-“

“Don’t come in!” Peter cried out desperately, his number one priority not being witnessed in such a state by  _ Tony freakin’ Stark  _ no less. 

For once Tony felt bound by the laws of social convention. At the end of the day..Peter was a minor and it felt scarily inappropriate to pick the lock hilst he was in the restroom. Of course the boy was in need of some kind of medical intervention and he assumed Peter was clothed, which blurred the lines somewhat- but he wasn’t unconscious and he wasn’t choking so- god what was the etiquette here? Tony would do it i it was Steve or any other team member (maybe not Nat but she didn’t seem to have human functions anyway) and Peter was a  _ kid _ so-

“You alright?” Tony said kind of dumbly, trying to gauge the situation. 

“Yeah-“ The boy was cut off by another violent gag that sounded as though someone was strangling a feral cat from inside the bathroom “Just don’t come i-“

“Peter, open the door.” Social convention be damned, Tony's instincts were tingling too intensely making it impossible not to go in there. He wasn’t a tactile person by any means but every fibre of his being was screaming ‘get your ass in there and rub his back’. Only weeks prior he had convinced himself they weren’t even at the hugging stage but now that’s all he wanted to do- the kid  _ needed him _ and he needed to open that goddamn door. 

“No!”

“I’m not going to ask again. Open the door.” Tony said lowly. 

“I said no I don’t- ow.” 

That was it. Tony used the corner of his credit card to pick the lock and push the door open, where he found Peter sprawled on the floor, wedged between the sink and the toilet, clinging to the bowl like his life depended on it. He was also clutching at his chest and stomach which were no down cramping painfully if the look on his face was any indication. He’d also managed to throw up not only on himself but in the sink and on the floor as well. Rather than be disgusted as most anyone would be by the sheer sight of the mess, Tony felt nothing but the utmost sympathy for the teen. “Oh kid-“

“Don’t look at me!” Peter screeched dramatically, only to be taken over by another wave of nausea coursing through him forcing him to lean his face back over the bowl. 

Ignoring the boys protests Tony moved to pull the kid out from the corner he was scrunched up in, making him sit upright on his knees; in his experience that made the process of emptying one's stomach much easier. Peter weakly tried to bat his hands away and insist that the man leave but Tony ignored him; knowing that he was only doing so out of modesty and truly wanted the comfort he was attempting to provide. “You’re alright. You’re alright. Just let it out, don’t fight it.” 

“I’m sorry- I’m so gross- this is so gross- you shouldn’t have to-“

“Shh. You’re not gross and you have nothing to apologise for. I’ve seen worse trust me.” Tony soothed. It was true, he had seen far worse, the situation itself was nothing to him- it was just heart wrenching to see his younger counterpart in such a state. He didn’t care about getting puked on, he was just worried about said pukee feeling so sick- let alone how embarrassed he’d be later on once he recovered. 

Tony crouched down beside him and waited for the next fifteen minutes or so until Peter’s stomach finally stopped convulsing long enough for the teen to catch his breath; which by now was even more laboured. Tony ignored Peter’s muttered apologies the entire time as he was more focused on keeping the kid upright. “I’m gonna grab you some clothes alright? Leave the floor just get yourself cleaned up-“

Peter managed to give Tony the side eye from where he was still hunched over, though it didn’t have the desired effect considering his sweaty face and red rimmed eyes. “You are not cleaning the floor-“

“Shut up. You’re in no state to argue with me.” Tony rolled his eyes. Once he was sure Peter was stable enough to be left alone, he exited the restroom in search of some clean Pajamas; finding a plethora of superhero themed ones in the kids drawers. Oh the oodles of blackmail material that resided in there, he couldn’t wait until the kid was better- for more reasons than one, obviously, but he’d be able to use this against him then. Just as he was resisting the urge to snap a shot of the boys Hulk onesie he heard a crash from the other room. 

“Peter?!”

“I’m okay!” Peter cried out trying to deter his mentor from rushing back in, only for another crashing sound- followed by coughing and what sounded like more throwing up. 

Tony ran back to find Peter coughing up into the sink this time, having stripped himself of his shirt; which he’d then clearly tried to use to mop up the floor, unsuccessfully. As the boy retched Tony could see all of the muscles in the boys back and shoulders constricting violently and a thin sheen of sweat covering him as he shuddered. How there was anything left in his stomach at that point his mentor had no clue, assuming due to his mutation he had some freakishly large stomach that was causing the severity of this particularly gross symptom. 

At least the boy was standing up..right? Tony tried to convince himself that if he had enough strength to do that he was..he was okay- no. No scratch that, Peter was not okay, this wasn’t just the flu and as soon as they got Peter clean and dry he was taking him to Bruce. Maybe after a nap first because the boy looked exhausted. “Jesus- good thing I didn’t leave after all huh, Kid?”

Peter just looked up weakly making eye contact with the man in the mirror; sniffling as he stood up straight again, wiping his mouth. “I’m really sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” Tony said flatly as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder to steady him as he stumbled backwards. 

“But I am-“

“I know, kiddo, but you don’t need to be. Save your strength arguing with me.” Tony said, adorning that dad voice that let no room for argument. He knew how embarrassed the boy must’ve been showing such ‘weakness’ in front of his boss, but Tony didn’t see it that way. 

It was a process getting Peter cleaned up as the boy understandably refused assistance in doing so; but that being said Tony wasn’t about to leave him unattended in the bathroom whilst he was that close to falling over. Apparently the fever had knocked out all of the kids spider abilities as he was even more clumsy than usual and could barely stay upright. This lead to Tony keeping his eyes shut whilst the boy took his clothes off, but remaining in the room in case he fell. Then once Peter was safely behind the shower curtain the man set about cleaning the puke off of the floor- much to the teenagers horror. 

Still Tony ignored all of his protests in favour of getting the job done quicker and once Peter was out and clothed again the man helped lead him back out of the bathroom. 

“You wanna go in your bed or the couch?” Tiny asked tentatively when the boy paused in the doorway, clearly torn. 

“I can walk I’m-“

“Answer the question.” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Uhm, I don’t- I don’t know.” Peter mumbled defeatedly, looking at the floor. 

Tony knew that translated to ‘I wanna stay with you but I’m too embarrassed to say’ and elected to make the decision easier for him. “Couch it is. Bathrooms closer and I wanna keep an eye on you.”

Peter didn’t protest. In fact he didn’t do much of anything. Once he slumped back onto the couch he remained there in the exact position in which he fell; which didn’t look comfortable at all. He didn’t put up a fight when Tony walked over to adjust him either, he didn’t even flinch or look at the man- now Tony was seriously freaked out. 

Sticking the thermometer back into Peter's mouth Tony stood up and retrieved his phone from the coffee table. “I better call May.”

“Please don’t tell her, she’ll get worried and wanna come home.” Peter muttered weakly from under the blanket he had wrapped around his ears. 

“Pete, I’m not staying overnight without telling her. Not only is that creepy but it crosses over the lines of being legal too. And if your fever doesn’t go down soon I’m taking you back home.” Tony said flippantly, rebutting Peters concerns as he Pressed the call button. May answered just before it went to answer phone, sounding frazzled as she usually did. “Hey, May.”

“Hey! I was just gonna call you, was he okay when you dropped in?” May asked, assuming from the time that Tony had long since left her apartment; she’d also convinced herself since Tony hadn’t called sooner that Peter was okay. 

“Well, no not really. He’s got a nasty cough and he just threw up more than his body weight. His fever’s scaring me too.” Tony said honestly looking over at the boy huddled up on the couch. He looked so small and frail, nothing it like the annoyingly cheerful and fiercely independent fifteen year old he thought he’d be dealing with that evening. 

May immediately mirrored the man’s concerns; if Tony was allowing himself to become emotionally invested to the point he was admitting to being scared it must be serious. “Oh god- right I’ll Uhm, I’ll ask my manager if I can swap out my off day-“

“No May- if you’re comfortable with it I can stay here and take care of him.”

“Tony, I can’t ask you to do that.” 

“You’re not asking, I’m offering. And I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to, I’m not that kinda guy.”

May paused considering her options. “Are you sure you’re comfortable staying over? I get off at 10 tomorrow, so I’ll be back around midday, traffic forgiving.”

“I’m perfectly happy. Kid won’t be but like I already told him I don’t care how embarrassed he is.” Tony smirked when Peter stuck his tongue out at him; he was mostly just happy the boy was coherent enough to do so. After repeating the action back at him he added; “To be honest with you May I think I might need to take him somewhere.” 

“Really? Is it that bad?” May asked, gnawing her lip worriedly. 

“Yeah.” Tony cleared his throat, ignoring the scowl he was receiving from Peter and the fluttering of emotion in his chest. He’d never dealt with the kid being this sick before; an ear infection here and there or a migraine that left him knocked out for a couple days- but never a temperature high enough to melt steel or puking. This seemed serious and it wasn’t like he could just give the kid Tylenol. 

“I can call our doctors office, try and get him an out of hours appointment for tomorrow-“

“No need, I’ll have Bruce check him over.” Tony said quickly before May could make any plans. She still wasn’t aware of Peters superpowers yet, so taking him to a regular doctor would not only be a waste of time and money but also put Peter at risk of being found out; something they’d narrowly managed to avoid up until that point and Tony intended to keep it that way. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive, I already texted him that we’d be coming over in a bit anyway.” Tony assured her. He planned to deposit the kid into the car a little later that evening; after rush hour and once it had began to darken outside, to avoid anyone potentially seeing Tony Stark put a clearly incapacitated teenage boy into his car. Yeah, a rich middle aged white man putting a drunk looking kid into his car wouldn’t be great for publicity. 

  
  


"Okay well, lemme know what happens and give him my love." 

"Will do, see ya later May." Tony ended the call and looked back over to Peter who was peering at him over the back of the couch with a strange look on his face. "You hear that kid? If you don't feel better in the next hour we're going to see Bru-"

Tony's cautionary speech was cut off when Peter rolled over to loudly throw up in the bowl Tony had left beside the couch. 

Sighing Tony grabbed his things off the table, shoving them back in his briefcase and went to go gather some of the boys things as well. "I'll go warm up the car."


	2. Resistance Is Futile

“Alright.” Tony sighed as he rentered the apartment to retrieve the jumbled mess of limbs and blankets that was his intern. “Come on, let’s go.” 

“No.” Peter coughed. He added punctuation to his point by burrowing under the blankets a little more and squeezing his eyes shut; as though he could make his mentor disappear without him through wishful thinking and defiance. Maybe if he hid under the blankets Tony would think he’d disappeared- hey he never tried it, maybe the spider that bit him had some kind of camouflage abilities-

“Yes.” The man said in an equally adamant tone as he crossed the room to try and manually wrangle with the boy. He did so gently, of course, not wanting to jostle the boy too much and set off his stomach again, but it was a difficult task. Peter refused to unwrap his arms from around himself so Tony was forced to scoop the boy up around his back and raise him off the couch like a mummy. “Get up and get your shoes on.” 

“I don’t wanna.” Peter sniffled, looking torn between trying to tug at Tony’s heart strings by being teary and upset or having a full blown tantrum. Neither of which was preferable because the man wasn’t used to dealing with the kid in either condition. 

“I don’t care.” 

“If you don’t care then  _ go away.  _ I’m  _ fine.”  _ The teenager growled and threw his shoes back across the room. 

“Stop it.” Tony sighed as he stormed over to pick the discarded trainers off the floor and back over to the teen where he crouched down in front of him; completing the action for him. “Stop being a baby.”

“Says the man putting my shoes on for me.” Peter scoffed though secretly he was rather glad. He knew if he leant forward too much he’d likely throw up again. 

“Says the man who’s gonna carry you to the car if you don’t get your ass in gear.” Tony snapped again before he calmed himself down. He knew the kid was sick and tired and just wanted to be left alone, he didn't blame him; but he also knew that his cough sounded bad and he needed to see a doctor. No amount of Peter bitching or moaning or throwing things was going to change the man’s mind. 

However, Tony was also aware that Peter had a pretty understandable phobia of medical settings considering the conditions he’d been subjected to after the bite. All the endless tests, among other things, had left Peter with a sizeable fear of doctors- but Bruce was safe. Bruce was the only doctor the boy trusted; but apparently even the promise of going to the tower wasn’t enough to stop the boy from throwing a hissy fit. “Go pee, I’ll lock up.” 

Peter didn’t argue he just followed instructions, which was a welcome change that day. While the kid went to the bathroom, Tony set about locking the windows and shutting doors and was about to gather up some things for Peter’s impromptu visit to the tower. When Tony entered the boy’s room he noticed a small well loved bear stuffed under Peter’s pillow; the one the teenager thought he was oh-so-good at hiding on every mission or weekends away. The kid never slept without it but he somehow thought his mentor had no idea about his little secret. In all honesty Tony was surprised the tattered thing hadn’t ended up on the sofa with him, but no matter, the pair would be reunited soon enough. He slipped the bear into the bag he’d packed for the kid and he was sure, no matter how embarrassed he’d be, the kid would be grateful later. 

He covered up the fact that he’d taken the bear by grabbing the boy’s pillow too. That way if he was  _ too _ embarrassed Tony could say he hadn’t noticed it, that it had fallen into his bag as he grabbed the pillow. He grabbed enough clothes for the kid for a few days too despite Peter having an abundance of clothing he’d appropriated from their team members over the months he’d been visiting. He had a plethora of Tony’s band t-shirts, Steve’s hoodies and even one of Thor's capes that he often used when he was in a bad mood. Besides the clothes he’d accumulated Tony had bought the kid stuff to wear for the nights he suddenly found Peter dropped in his lap- but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more items there...though Peter’s wardrobe at May’s was starting to look rather bare as of late. 

“Why’ve you got that?” Peter asked wide eyed, appearing in the doorway just as Tony was closing his sock draw. Tony followed the boy's gaze down to the bag he had in his hand, specifically the pillow resting atop of it- ah. He must’ve remembered where he’d left the bear. There was no way Tony wouldn’t have seen her. 

“Figured you’d be comfier with it in the car.” Tony shrugged casually, not even mentioning the bear. Best not to draw attention to it to throw the boy off the scent. “You can bring your blanket too- oh no sorry, I mean _binky.”_

“You better cut that crap out Stark, I mean it.” Peter growled menacingly when the childish term was reiterated. God he was never going to live that down was he? Curse May for allowing him the comfort of using his old baby slang well into his teenage years, how was he meant to break the habit now? It was a miracle he hadn't let something like that slip around Tony a long time ago.

“But it’s adorable.” 

“Keep it up.” The teen snarled as his cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink; which against his sickly pale face stood out like a sore thumb. 

“Aw. You’re so cute when you try and act like me.” The man chuckled and pinched Peter’s cheek. As fun as it was teasing the kid, it would’ve been much more fun had Peter had the energy to actually rise to it. Other than threatening to bite his hand and giving him a series of dirty looks, the teen was too drained to do anything else. 

They walked down to the car, Peter walking painfully slow compared to his usual bouncy pace that had him twenty steps in front of Tony. It was actually a struggle for the boy to keep up even though Tony made a point of slowing down to allow him to do so. The stairs had been the hardest part, the man could hear Peter’s breathing becoming more and more laboured with each flight; he got so worried about the boy collapsing that he stayed directly in front of him on the steps, so at least if he did pass out he’d have a soft landing. Somehow they made it to the car without any major incident but by the time Tony got Peter into the front seat the kid had fallen completely silent, bar from the shaky raspy breathing.

“You okay?” Tony asked quietly after a moment when Peter had yet to move. 

Peter didn’t respond other than a faint “Mm,” and a twitch of his hand to acknowledge the man had spoken to him. He was completely wiped out, which quite frankly was scary for both of them. Peter was usually capable of running for hours on end without breaking a sweat but whatever illness was ailing him left him so weak he could barely handle descending a couple staircases. 

Tony moved to secure the boy's seatbelt for him, as Peter had failed to do so. He also grabbed a sick bag out of the glovebox and rolled down both their windows a little, trying to avoid the kid throwing up again- which he tended to do in the car on a semi regular basis anyway, or so Tony had heard. But vomiting wasn’t the symptom that became an issue. A few minutes into their journey Peter started coughing again, the same wracking coughs he’d been having earlier only this time they were worse. At first it started off just a few shaky breaths and staggered splutters here and there, barely enough to make the kid shift position other than to cover his mouth; but after a while they grew louder and harder with shorter breaks between coughs, until Peter was barely able to draw a breath in any more. 

“Woah, hey hey hey.” Tony said alarmingly as Peter twisted in his seat. He kept glancing back and forth between the boy and the road. “Drink some water, hey, drink some water kid.”

Peter tried that, it didn’t work. He was barely able to swallow before he started coughing again, his water break eating up the small window he had to get oxygen into his lungs; all that venture resulted in was Peter dropping the bottle and spilling it all over the footwell. “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to-“ 

“It’s okay forget the water just- you gotta breathe Pete.” Tony winced when Peter gasped on a heave again. It was a pretty obvious statement but he wasn’t really sure what else he could do. It wasn’t like he could do anything to help, not whilst he was driving. 

“I c-can’t-“ Peter huffed. The coughs were slowing down in intensity but his lungs were still refusing to draw in a breath. 

“You can, you gotta stop panicking though bud.” Tony muttered as he pulled into a lay by and stuck his hazard lights on, so he could give the boy his full attention. Peter was hunched over in his seat, straining against the seat belt; so Tony pulled him back so he was laying flat against the seat again and tried to get the boy to mirror his own breaths. “Look at me, deep breaths, deep deep breaths- there you go. In and out just like be practised.” 

Tony coached him through the breathing, like he did every time the kid had a panic attack only he  _ knew  _ this was different. The kid wasn’t panicking because he felt like he was short of breath, he actually couldn’t breathe. And it was  _ scary.  _ It sounded like the kid was having an asthma attack. 

Peter had asthma before the bite but his lung capacity tests since then had shown that particular ailment had all but dissipated once he was infused with a healthy dose of toxic radiation- but that’s what it sounded like. Behind the strangled coughs Tony could hear each intake of breath was shallow and raspy, wheezing slightly towards the end. It just- it just didn’t sound good. 

“It hurts.” 

“I bet it does.” Tony said softly, continuing to run slow soothing circles into Peter’s back until the boy was ready to sit upright unaided again. Even when he did he gave the boy a few minutes before he attempted to talk to him. “You all good?”

“Yeah..sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry.” 

“I am sorry- I sh-shouldn’t be makin’ a fuss it’s just a cough- I’m being a b-“ 

“You better not have been about to say bitch or baby.” 

“What about bitch baby?” 

“What about I smack you upside the head?”

“Go ahead, it can’t feel much worse.” Peter sniffed and wiped his eyes on his sleeves, the coughing having caused tears to stream down his face. 

Instead of smacking him like he had hollowly threatened, Tony brushed the boy's hair out of his face gently, before he started driving again. “We’re almost home bud, we’ll get you some drugs.” 

“Yay I love drugs.” Peter grumbled as he slumped against the window. He didn’t want any medicine. He hated medicine. Peter didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to testing out Bruce’s concoctions. He couldn’t blame the doctor of course, adjusting doses for superhumans wasn’t an exact science and it was tricky to get it right; but Peter didn’t exactly feel up to going through three rounds of hallucinogens before they struck gold. He just wanted to sleep but oh no, Tony insisted he went to the tower- for what? So he could sleep there? He wanted his bed, he wanted his blankets and familiar room and- well he didn’t mind having Tony there. Even if the man was being an asshole. 

“Now you’re starting to sound like me- ow!” Tony flinched when Peter super-slapped his arm. “Don’t hit the driver!” 

“Don’t  _ yell.”  _ Peter hissed, pulling his hold up and covering his ears. His head was throbbing violently, making his eyes pound and his ears ring. Thankfully it was already dark outside because Peter was sure had the sun been out he would’ve burst into tears. 

The car fell silent again for the remainder of the journey, which Tony was happy about. The kid seemed to have dozed off for a while just before they pulled into the garage and if he thought he could’ve gotten him inside without waking him he would have. Instead he gently shook the boy awake. “Come on Underoos, let's get you upstairs.” 

“Kay.” Peter murmured, trying and failing to undo his seatbelt. Tony lent over and did it for him whilst Peter just kind of slumped against the door, expecting it to open on it's own. 

“Wait there, I’ll come around.” Tony shook his head, exiting the vehicle to do just that. When he opened the car door it was a good thing he had braced himself, as Peter just tumbled out without trying to stop himself. He didn’t even verbally protest Tony helping him. Though Peter didn’t say a word Tony did notice the boy's complexion had gone from grey to a nice shade of green again, and once he’d propped him up against the car to retrieve their bags he noted Peter swallowing continuously. “You gonna puke again?”

“I’m tryin’ not to.” Peter mumbled towards the ground as he braced himself against his knees, swaying dangerously. 

“It’s okay if you do.” The man sighed when Peter adamantly shook his head and declined any further assistance whilst walking; though Tony drew the line when Peter tried to help carry his things. The walk from the car towards the elevator was even worse than the walk to the car from his apartment. Whilst Peter wasn’t coughing his breathing was even more shallow than it had been and as they ascended there short set of stairs up to the elevator Peter began gasping again. 

It was less than fifteen steps but Peter only made it about halfway before he started teetering dangerously backwards. Luckily Tony looked back at him just as he loosened his grip on the handrail and started to tilt. He managed to grab the boys forearm just in time to avoid another medical emergency when Peter smacked his head on the floor. “Woah- hey, easy, easy. You alright?”

Peter glanced up at his mentor who was studying him with wide worried eyes and tried desperately to brush it off; as though almost slipping unconscious was perfectly normal. “I needta, I needta stop a second.” 

“You wanna sit down?” Tony asked just as Peter’s eyes fluttered and started to roll back and he sat the boy in the steps before he could protest. Within seconds the boy was back to the quick paced shallow breathing him, his head between his knees. “Try and slow your breathing if you can’t take deep breaths kid.” 

“I’m trying.” Peter snapped sounding just a little frustrated; but he was more frustrated at the feeling of not being about to get enough oxygen into his lungs. With little warning his chest began to spasm and coughing again, hard enough to make his stomach forcefully eject the little amount of water he’d managed to consume in the car. “I’m sorry, oh god that’s gross- I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-“

“Shh, Shh, Shh, it’s okay. You’re fine kid it’s okay, it’s nothing that can’t be cleaned up.” Tony shushed him. He wasn’t concerned about the small amount of spit up on the concrete steps but about his mentee with a super metabolism losing the tiny bit of fluid he had left in his system. At this rate the boy had to be severely dehydrated, what with the vomiting and the fever, which is why he felt justified in rushing the boy a little prematurely. “You ready to get up?” 

Peter looked reluctant, like he wasn’t really ready, but he nodded anyway because he didn’t want to keep wasting Tony's time; but this time he had no issue allowing Tony to loop his arm around him to help support his weight. For the rest of their short journey upstairs Peter leant heavily on Tony, the man practically carrying him. The teen couldn’t even bring himself to be embarrassed when they finally made it up to the medibay and none other than Dr. Bruce Banner saw him in such a state. 

Bruce looked surprised. He was usually quite good at keeping his cool and staying composed- even that time Thor appeared in his doorway with an arrow stuck in his head after an argument with Clint, he hadn’t bat an eye- but Peter looked  _ awful.  _ Only hours before Tony had mentioned the boy had a cough but now he looked half dead _.  _ He certainly wasn’t expecting him to look that bad after what Tony had described over the phone; had he known how bad he was he would’ve never advised Tony waiting a few hours for the fever to break. 

After exchanging very brief pleasantries Bruce started going through all the necessary diagnostics. He took Peter’s temperature, oxygen levels, blood pressure, blood sugar levels as well as some full blood draws. Whilst they waited for the tests to come back Bruce listened to Peter’s breathing with a stethoscope, and safe to say he wasn’t very happy with what he heard. He tried his best not to let his face convey that though he did exchange some very worried glances with Tony when he was sure Peter wasn’t looking. As he was coming to the end of the physical exam his machines were already altering doses of antibiotics, anti inflammatory medications and painkillers. “Have you been coughing up any mucus?” 

“Ew.” Peter wrinkled his nose and shook his head; trying to peek over Bruce’s shoulder to get a look at what his tablet was saying about his condition. All he saw was a bunch of red boxes. That didn’t seem good. 

“Well, I think you have a pretty cut and dry case of pneumonia.” Bruce sighed as he sat down to mess with one of the machines. 

Peter's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that kind of diagnosis. He figured Bruce would say he had the flu, or maybe an infection. Sure he felt bad but- “Pneumonia? Isn’t that like- super bad?”

“You’ve definitely crossed the lines of super bad Pete, this is an advanced infection if your numbers are anything to go off of.” The Doctor hummed. “It’s definitely a secondary infection at this point.” 

Letting the words sink in Peter looked sheepishly up Tony. “I’m sorry.” 

“So am I bubs.” Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t entirely sure why the kid was apologising; though he had an idea it was something to do with taking up his time, but Tony couldn’t care less about that. He couldn’t help but feel as though he was partially to blame; if only he’d been able to spot any off behaviour during the week, or not mistaken Peter’s stubbornness about the conference for pure stubbornness. It was out of character for Peter to kick up a fuss about attending events with him- he should’ve known something was wrong. If not then at least when he first got to May’s. He should’ve Peter straight to the tower instead of hanging out and hoping it would just go away- maybe then the infection wouldn’t be so bad. It was a long shot but in the few short hours since he’d discovered the sick blanket burrito on the couch the kid's condition had significantly worsened. Fucking superhumans and their supermetabolisms- like he didn't get enough of this from Steve. “It’s okay.”

But Peter looked up at him, glossy eyed. Clearly the pain, tiredness and sickness was starting to get to him because Peter had lost all of that fiery attitude he’d had before they left the house. Now he was unabashedly leaning into his mentor's touch, desperately seeking comfort even though he verbalised how guilty he felt for doing so. “It’s not, I shoulda said something before it got bad now I’m gonna be a burden on everyone-“

“Stop that. Don’t start with that, you’re not a burden.” Tony said sternly, though he counteracted his harsh tone by messing with the kid’s hair again. “What’s the game plan Brucey?” 

Bruce was sure to turn his attention back to his patient when answering that question. “I’m gonna get you started on antibiotics right away, but you need fluids and glucose too so our best bet is an IV I think. By the looks of things you’re going to need steroids too and I can get you some pain medicine while we’re at it.” 

“For the fever?” Tony asked. 

“The pain meds should bring that down too-“ Bruce started to explain but he was cut off by Peter coughing violently again. “Peter I need you to try and sit back.” 

The teenager tried to follow the doctor's instructions but everytime he tried to sit up straight with his back against the bed another ripple of pain through his chest sent him hurtling forward again. But Bruce continued to try and coach him through it, not dissimilar to how Tony had in the car. “I know it’s difficult but you need to try and open your airways.” 

“Good kid, there we go, relax.” Tony soothed once Peter had managed to lay back, but it was short lived when he lurched forward again; this time gagging slightly between coughs. 

“I’m gonna be sick.”

“No you’re not, I know it feels like it but you’re not. you’ve just gotta get your breath back.” Tony tried to convince him to lay back again but the kid wasn’t thinking clearly; the fever was getting to him so he wasn’t exactly in a listening mood- and let’s be real, his body was trying to tell him he was going to throw up, he wasn’t likely to listen to people who weren’t attached to his nervous system, no matter how medically trained they were. 

“Bronchospasms.” Bruce muttered under his breath. He got up and jumped around the room, collecting tanks and tubes and other various pieces of equipment ready to tackle the situation; all the while Tony tried to calm Peter down. “Right, Peter I’m gonna give you a breathing treatment. It’s just oxygen and some steroids. It should stop your lungs from spasming okay?” 

Peter nodded, unable to do much of anything else as Bruce rushed to place the oxygen mask on him. No sooner than he did so Peter’s lungs made quick work of metabolising the salbutamol and he felt his chest relaxing; gradually the tight coils that had wound in his chest began to loosen and he was finally able to allow his lungs to expand to their full capacity, for the first time in hours. 

“Thank you.” Peter sighed, as did the two adults in the room once colour had flooded the boy’s face again. 

Bruce lightly clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder to acknowledge his thanks before he continued moving around the room; mixing up vials, shaking containers as drawing up doses of medicine in syringes- most of which Peter recognised. He didn’t begin to feel nervous before Bruce moved to attach a bag of liquid to his IV port, and he found himself flinching away. 

“W-Whats that?” Peter muttered, subconsciously grabbing the cuff of Tony’s shirt when the sudden fear gripped him. He was quick to let go know he realised what he’d done but Tony replaced Peter’s comfort seeking with a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The teen felt stupid for getting scared but he couldn’t help it; and he was far too exhausted to care about pretending he wasn’t. He’d save his embarrassment for later when he didn’t feel like his lungs were on fire or his head was about to explode. 

Bruce gave the boy a gentle smile. It was his fault really, he knew from experience that he had to verbalise what he was doing with Peter to keep the boy’s nerves settled. He had a particular issue with foreign substances being introduced into his system, so Bruce took the time to detail exactly what he was giving him. “Just some fluids to help rehydrate you and boost your blood sugar-“

“Dextrose or Maltodextrin?” Peter asked knowingly. This wasn’t his first rodeo. 

“Fifty fifty ratio.” 

Peter relaxed. He didn’t care what it was he just wanted to know- the idea of anyone putting stuff in him without his knowledge or consent again drove him crazy and sent him right back to..well a time he’d rather forget. But he trusted Bruce. Bruce would take care of him. He wouldn’t- he wouldn’t do anything bad. And Tony wouldn’t let him do anything bad. 

Once he felt the familiar coldness spread up his arm as the fluid began draining into his system, Peter looked up towards Tony with pleading eyes. “C-can I go lay down now?” 

Tony looked to Bruce silently asking if it would be okay for them to move him downstairs. The doctor nodded, getting the wheelchair and portable IV pole without so much as being asked. “Sure bud, where do you wanna go?” 

“I don’t..uhm..I don’t mind I jus' wanna..I don’t mind.” Peter mumbled, feeling shyness wash over him again. Despite Tony having been nothing but caring towards him so far, he couldn’t help but feel as though he was inconveniencing the man. The sick, childish side of his brain longed not to be left alone but the mature superhero side of his brain knew that would be a babyish thing to ask. Tony had done more than his part in regards to providing comfort- even when he’d riled against it and insisted he was fine Tony stayed with him to rub his back...but as appreciative as he was, he’d ruined the man’s schedule enough. He couldn’t ask to burden him by staying with him too...even if he desperately wanted a cuddle. Tony wasn’t May, he couldn’t expect him to do that. 

“I’d prefer if he wasn’t left alone.” Bruce chimed in helpfully. Much like Tony had earlier he could tell the boy didn’t want to be alone but was too shy to admit it. “Someone should keep an eye on him until his fever goes down. Wanna set up in the living room?” 

“Hmm, I don’t know I wanna make sure he gets some rest and so help me god, if anyone disturbs him.” Tony muttered. He wanted to be there to watch him and he fully intended to, but he’d also intended to get some work done that evening considering he’d forgone going to the conference; but it wasn’t appropriate to put Peter in the lab, not only because the kid would likely try and work too the second he felt even the slightest bit better, but also things were too far away. If the kid needed the bathroom it was a good twenty steps from the couch to the toilet, which didn’t sound like much but he’d just witnessed Spider-Man almost expire going up a few steps. 

“Just threaten everyone, you’re good at that.” Bruce shrugged. 

But Tony shook his head. “We’ll put him in his room for now, I don’t mind hanging out in there.”

Peter didn’t join in the conversation, he didn’t care where he went he just wanted to lay down. Every part of him ached and the room was spinning, he wanted to sleep so he could escape the deep burning ache in his lungs and the constant scratchy tickle in his throat; but most of all he wanted to wrap himself in a few hundred blankets because he was  _ freezing.  _

Though he didn’t talk in regards to where he’d be placed, he had plenty to say when it came to how he was getting there. He was quick to pipe up when Bruce suggested putting him in a wheelchair- because that was absolutely humiliating for some reason. As though the day hadn’t been full of embarrassing enough moments apparently being wheeled down two corridors and into an elevator was far too much for the teen. Tony thought it was ridiculous and he would have told him so had it not been for the tears that suddenly welled in the boy’s eyes that made him give in almost instantly. 

In order to get Peter safely to his room both Bruce and Tony had to support the kid whilst he walked. Which would have been fine had they not been spotted the literal second they stepped out into the common room. 

Nat had been on the way back to her room when she saw two of her housemates carrying a familiar kid who looked like he was about to expire. “Woah what the hell happened to Spider-Kid?”

“He’s sick and tell everyone else if they wake him up I’ll kill them.” Tony said shortly. Though he was delivering the threat to Nat, Peter was distantly aware that it was probably more directed to Thor than anyone else. 

“Will do.” She shrugged lightly, not feeling at all intimidated by the man currently cradling a teenagers head like he was a newborn. She did make a point of gently ruffling Peter’s hair as she continued to her intended location. “Hope you feel better, Curly.”

“Thanks.” Peter murmured weakly. He felt his cheeks flush and he knew he’d feel embarrassed about the lady seeing him later, but in that moment he only had one thing on his mind. “Mr Stark can we please lay down now?” 

“Two seconds buddy, it’s alright I got you.” Tony sighed as they resumed walking. By this point Peter wasn’t even attempting to carry his own weight any more, the two men lifting him completely off the ground with each step. Thankfully the boys room was only around the corner and they managed to get him tucked into bed without incident. Bruce setup Peter’s IV as well as the tank and mask for his breathing treatments, whilst Tony made sure Peter was fully situated and comfortable. Once the medical side of things was done Bruce silently slipped out of the room gesturing for Tony to call him if he needed him. 

Peter was safely under the covers and it looked as though the boy had passed out the second his head hit the pillow. But apparently not, as soon as Tony went to exit the room he was met with a small crackly voice protesting. 

“Don’ leave.” Peter croaked out weakly, and all Tony could see were his eyes and wild hair poking out from underneath the comforter. The kid sounded so young and Tony knew he wouldn’t have let himself say that if he wasn’t really sick. The kid must’ve been pretty out of it to be so open about wanting company. 

“I’ll be right back kiddo, I’m just grabbing your stuff. I gotta call May remember? Don’t want her thinking I kidnapped you.” Tony chuckled but the kid barely acknowledged what he was saying. He fully intended to come right back once he’d retrieved their things, he wasn’t going to leave the boy unattended for long. “I’ll be right back I promise.” 

Tony called May as he was walking, trying to cut the time the tasks would take in half. “Hey May.”

“Oh hey I was just about to call, is everything okay?” The woman answered, her voice just wavering slightly off of her usual cheery lilt. 

“No uh, well yeah it’s okay now. I ended up having to take him back to my place though.” Tony said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. He was debating whether to tell her just how serious the boys condition was; if he told her it was pneumonia she’d freak out understandably maybe demand he went to a hospital or he went home and Tony knew they were the ones who could give him the best care- and a little selfishly he wanted to be the one to look after the kid. He also couldn’t lie to her, that wasn’t right Peter was her baby and she had a right to know just what was going on with him. 

_ But _ , then again if he told her Peter had pneumonia and then the boy recovered in a week she would be mightily suspicious.

“Oh no, what did Bruce say?”

Tony made his decision. He wasn’t going to play down how bad it was but he was going to put it into a normal person perspective- not a super-kid’s. “He’s got a chest infection, it’s not super bad but ‘cause of his asthma we wanna air on the side of caution. He’s got him on some breathing treatments and antibiotics.” 

May made a few sympathetic noises as she tried to map out in her head what she was going to do. “God, okay, I’ll pick him up when I get off. It won’t be until tomorrow but-“

“No May you don’t- you don’t have to. I mean of course you’re welcome to but, Bruce wanted to keep an eye on him just in case you know? Can’t be too careful when he’s already got a lung condition- and his fever is pretty high so he wants to monitor that...” Tony trailed off, realising he sounded a little too eager to keep Peter at the tower. He surprised himself with how frantic he sounded and he had to admit he was a little embarrassed by it; and he certainly didn’t want May to think he was being too overbearing. “But if you think he’d be more comfortable at home that’s okay too we can get all the stuff he needs together and-“

“He’s already at home.” May chuckled softly, cutting the man off in the middle of his rambling. “Tony if you don’t mind watching him for a couple days, I don’t mind either.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I have to be careful with germs anyway, you know that.” Tony did know that. The woman worked in a hospital surrounded by vulnerable people and she had health conditions of her own; she was already immune suppressed so the prospect of sending Peter home with what could be some super bacteria didn’t seem like a good idea. In fairness, Tony was at risk too given his heart condition, but he was more than willing to take one for the team. “As much as I’d love to take care of Cookie right now I wouldn’t be able to during the day anyway, at least when he’s with you I know someone’s always there for him.” 

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with that?”

“Tony if I didn’t fully trust your ability to look after him I wouldn’t have let you take him in the first place.” She laughed. “You give him my love though okay?”

“Of course I will.”

“And I know you’re not a hugger but I’m warning you he gets  _ real  _ clingy when he’s sick. You may have to postpone your persona temporarily.”

“I’m sure some hugs can be arranged. Within reason.” Tony said tiredly, as though the prospect of hugs sounded terrible, but really he felt his chest tighten at the idea. 

“I’ll call you soon to check in okay?” 

  
  


Tony elected to stay in Peter's room while the boy slept. When he got back after retrieving their things Peter was already sleeping soundly, but that didn't stop Tony from subtly placing his stuffed animal under his arm before covering him again. He got himself set up with his laptop at the boy's desk so he could at least try and get some work done, though he found himself distracted the entire time. Every time Peter so much as twitched Tony's eyes snapped up, so he ended up having to rewrite the same email twenty times before he gave up and just started drawing up designs instead. He couldn't help but notice the boy was snoring softly, which he thought was cute but it was unusual. What was even more unusual was how still Peter was laying; the kid was usually a fidgety, twitchy mess while he slept but he was sleeping so soundly. The poor kid must have been absolutely exhausted which is why Tony was surprised that after only an hour or so of sleeping Peter sat up, looking blearily around the room.

“Hey bud, you okay?” Tony asked as he watched the boy take in his surroundings. For a second his heart raced, thinking Peter might be looking for a receptacle to puke into but the kid didn't looked panicked. If anything he just looked a little..sad.

“Mm.” Peter murmured as he sat up, rubbing his eyes triedly. “Yeah.”

Though he claimed to be fine Tony noted how the boy didn't immediately lay back down and go back to sleep; instead he stayed sat up, looking down sadly at the bed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Peter sighed under his breath before wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to self soothe.

“Pete, we've been over this. You're a terrible liar. What do you need?”

The boy looked up at him, blinking wildly and spoke in a barely audible tone. “Can I have a hug?”

Ah. And so it begins. Tony would be lying if he didn’t feel his heart strings being tugged at when Peter gave him that look- and good god was it a vast improvement on the angry teenager who was throwing his sneakers around only hours before. Now he definitely knew Peter didn't feel well, there was no way on earth Peter would ask outright for a hug like that in a million years- and he'd no doubt be mortified later when he remembered. Oh well, Tony was going to milk it while he could, before he undoubtedly had to deal with the kid throwing a tantrum about 'not being a baby' as soon as the boy was feeling better.

“Of course you can, come here.” Tony said lightly, not wanting to make the boy feel self conscious for asking, and quickly climbed into bed beside him. He let Peter relax against his chest and he felt immediately how warm the kid still was; though he was shuddering violently as though he was fighting a chill. “Better?”

“Mhm.” Peter sighed contently, almost drifting off again. “You’re warm.”

“And you’re burning up.” The man tutted, though he moved to cover Peter's exposed arm with the blanket. He was worried that adding his body heat to the mix would worsen the boys fever, but he knew the kid still had drugs draining into his system that would counteract any ill benefits the cuddles would provide. He decided the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

Tony settled himself in as Peter slipped in and out of consciousness again, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't going to get any more work done that evening. Oh well, it was getting late anyway, he was starting to get tired himself; almost dozing off for a while. He couldn't help it, the warm weight on his chest and the kid's rhythmic (though raspy) breathing combined with the dull drawl of the TV coming from the other room was comforting. He managed to keep himself awake scrolling through Twitter and it was a good thing he did, as Peter woke up with a start again; but this time he wasn't seeking comfort. “You okay?”

By the time the question left Tony's mouth Peter was already out of bed and halfway across the room, moving quicker than he'd seen him all day. “I gotta go to the bathroom.” 

The kid just about slammed the door just before Tony heard him retching again. The man sighed, poor kid couldn't catch a break.

“Kid? Are you-“ He was about to get up and go after him but he wasn't nearly as quick as Peter when it came to moving- give him a break, he's in his forties and he'd just spent an hour in a cramped position. But as he made his way over to the door it crept open, revealing a very small disheveled looking Peter inside. Tony had never seen him look so young and weak. Even though he was small Peter always looked strong- but right then he looked like a ten year old, wearing too big clothes, rubbing his eyes tiredly (or wiping away tears Tony couldn’t tell) and sniffling. It was oddly reminiscent of that time Tony staying at Clint’s and Cooper came downstairs to tell Clint he’d had a bad dream. “Oh buddy, you alright?”

“I don’t feel well Mr. Stark.” Peter sniffled, right before his chin started wobbling and he looked as though he was about to burst into tears. Without being asked this time Tony wrapped his arms around the boy and gently led him back to bed.

“You don’t look well, Underoos.” Tony cooed, tucking Peter back under the covers while he silently sobbed. It absolutely broke his heart and for the first time he started worrying about his ability to take care of Peter after all. He wasn't used to comforting the boy when he was upset, what if he didn't do a good job? Maybe he ought to let May come and get him after all.. 

Despite his internal conflict Tony continued to gently shush the boy and mutter words of comfort to him, while he brushed his hair away from his face; finding the actions coming naturally to him even though he felt unequipped to do so. “Relax buddy, get some more sleep.” 

“I hate this.” Peter cried, angrily rubbing tears away from his eyes. 

“I know.” Tony sighed gently, before moving to wipe Peter's face a little more gently.

“You shouldn’t have to do this.” 

“I don’t have to, I want to.” Tony said firmly in the same hushed tone. Even though Peter was still clearly upset he was beginning to drift back to sleep again, his speech becoming more slurred and his eyes drifting shut between every cough and sniffle. Clearly Tony wasn't the only one experiencing some internal conflict; Peter was desperately trying to rile against the childish desire to be taken care of but his teenage attitude was no match. “I know you feel like a baby but everyone needs comfort sometimes. It’s okay.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Shh, buddy, it’s okay, get some rest.” Tony said quietly as Peter drifted back into an easy sleep. He glanced at the clock on Peter's bedside cabinet- 11:32. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo so I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this pandemic shit! I'm going to be incredibly bored between procrastinating over school work and going stir crazy- so if anyone has any requests of prompts or anything please let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo long time no write! It's been a while since Omovember and even longer since I updated Peter's New Home (which I've written a new chapter for, I'm just debating whether or not it's worth posting it..I don't think anyone cares about that fic anymore so I might be better off orphaning it and starting something new- anyway!) but I finally got over my writers block..kinda.  
> And I'm currently suffering from man-flu so I figured I'd be self indulgent and live vicariously through fanfiction in hopes that RDJ will turn up to take care of me lol


End file.
